Disney's Price Hike Could Add Hundreds of Dollars to Your Vacation

Ticket price hikes hit both Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California and Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista over the weekend, increasing the cost of one-day tickets, multi-day tickets, parking, and even annual passes.

Many of the increases on one-day tickets are minimal—$5 or less—but its biggest ticket increase is also its quietest. Walt Disney World Resort will now charge an additional $20 for tickets for three days or longer purchased at ticket booths and guest services counters, giving new incentive to buy early and online.

Another staggering change is that it’s now significantly less expensive to visit Walt Disney World for just three days, as multi-day ticket pricing jumps by at least $25 when a fourth day is added. Weekend guests won’t feel a big shift, as two and three-day tickets to Walt Disney World have even been decreased, but families making a week-long pilgrimage should plan on spending a couple hundred dollars more.

These changes are part of price hikes that have been occurring annually at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. During last February’s increase, both introduced dynamic seasonal ticket pricing, splitting the yearly calendar into three categories: value, on weekdays and off-season weekends; regular, on mid-level busy days; and peak days, over most major holidays and summer vacation.

As of February 2017, one-day adult, child, and park-hopper tickets increased by $2 for value days and $5 on regular and peak days at Disneyland Resort in California.

At Walt Disney World in Florida, one-day adult and child tickets to the Magic Kingdom increased by $2 on value days and $5 on regular days, with no peak day increase. One-day tickets to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Epcot or Disney’s Hollywood Studios increased by $2 for value days and $5 for regular and peak days. One-day park-hopper tickets, which grant access to all four parks, increased by $7 on value days and $10 on regular and peak days.

Seasonal pricing only applies to one-day tickets, but both Disneyland and Walt Disney World just increased ticket prices for multi-day passes as well.

At Disneyland, pricing has gone up by an additional $4 for two-day tickets, $15 for three-day tickets and $10 for four or five-day tickets. Park Hopper tickets, which allows guests to visit both Disney’s California Adventure and Disneyland in the same day, were also impacted, tacking on an extra $9 for two-day tickets, $15 for three-day tickets, and $10 for four and five-day tickets.

At Walt Disney World Resort, two-day and three-day ticket prices were slightly decreased, yet increased by $25 on four-day tickets, $30 on five-day tickets, $35 on six-day tickets, and $40 on seven, eight, nine and ten-day tickets. Park Hopper tickets, which allow guests to visit any of Walt Disney World’s four parks on the same day, increased by $2 on two-day tickets, $4 on three-day tickets, $31 on four-day tickets, $36 on five-day tickets, $41 on six-day tickets, and $46 on seven, eight, nine and ten-day tickets. All Walt Disney World tickets will also now be sold with expiration dates.

Annual passes at both parks saw an increase at both resorts, as did parking at Disneyland Resort, which will now cost $20 up from $18. Walt Disney World parking remains at $20, but preferred parking is now $40 from $35. With DisneyQuest officially closing in July, Walt Disney World also replaced Magic Your Way admission with Park Hopper Plus tickets, which continue to allow visits to Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon water parks, as well as select mini golf and golf courses.

Though the increases can look (and feel) significant, there are still plenty of ways to save money while at the parks. Disneyland recently introduced a SoCal Resident Pass, bringing the cost of a daily visit to around $50, while Walt Disney World’s price hikes come with a lot more to see within the parks, as they unveil new evening entertainment at both Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, as well as Pandora - The World of Avatar later this spring.